For Chargers defense, close isn't good enough

The ball sputtered through the air in the direction of Chargers safety Atari Bigby and its intended target, Browns tight end Alex Smith.

The two jostled for possession. It appeared for a moment that Bigby would bring down an interception that would set up the Chargers just a few yards from the end zone.

So much promise, though, fell with the ball that landed on the ground.

“It was over,” Bigby said. “I read the play perfectly. I was there. I just have to finish. Same thing we have to do as a team -- finish.”

The Browns converted a third-and-six on the next play, the beginning of their extending a drive just long enough to doom the Chargers to another failed attempt at a last-minute victory.

The Chargers defense was good enough to almost win the game despite the Chargers offense being bad enough to lose it.

Almost, of course, fell short, as it most often does.

A streak of 151 games with at least one offensive touchdown seems like ancient history, as the Chargers have twice in the past five games failed to get in the end zone. Yesterday, two Nick Novak field goals were their only scores, as they fell 7-6 to the Cleveland Browns.

After allowing a touchdown on the Browns’ first drive – running back Trent Richardson scrambling through Bigby’s arms and then sprinting 26 yards to the end zone – the Chargers defense was stout enough to force nine straight punts.

The Chargers defense twice got the ball on the ground and twice could not come up with it.

And even though they forced those punts, they several times, including at the end of the game, allowed the Browns to extend drives by converting an improbable third down or by allowing Richardson to bust for a big gain.

Richardson finished with 122 yards on 24 carries, the first 100-yard rusher the Chargers had allowed in 12 games.

That last drive could have ended on Bigby’s play or the next play. Instead, the Browns drove to the Chargers’ 49-yard line before punting. The Chargers started their attempt at a game-winning drive at their own 12.

“That’s the difference between winning and losing, when you get down to it,” Weddle acknowledged.

The Browns were just four-of-15 on third down and managed just 106 yards after halftime. But on a soaked field, with a whipping wind that conspired to limit big plays, the Browns essentially controlled the game by simply holding the ball. Two of their drives that ended in punts lasted more than five minutes, one for 10 plays and another for nine.

That was facilitated by the lack of game-changing plays by the Chargers. Again.

Sunday was the first time this season the Chargers have not taken the ball away at least once. But they have too often not taken it away enough.

Just one big play the previous game against the Denver Broncos could have salvaged that come-from-ahead fiasco.

“We need to take the ball away,” Bigby said. “… We need to control our situation, control our destiny.”

That was supposed to be the identifying trait of a more athletic defense.

Instead, two forced fumbles on Sunday, ended up safely in the hands of the Browns. Either one, or Bigby’s near-interception, would likely have changed the outcome.

“It’s hard to tell,” Weddle said when asked why the Chargers defense has been so close yet so far. “It’s that focus, that attention to detail. You’ve got to do a little more. I just feel like we as a defense have to do more. Somehow, somewhere we’ve got to do more. When our offense isn’t connecting like it usually does, we have to do more.”